Course Syllabus

SOCY 3050

Sociology of Education

Dr. Rob Kadel -- rob.kadel@ucdenver.edu 

Click this link to download a copy of the syllabus: Syllabus for Sociology of Education E01.pdf

UCD Course Catalog Description

Drawing from theories in the sociology of education, this course evaluates the relationship between race, ethnicity, gender, class, immigration status and educational experiences, aspirations, and outcomes. Topics include socialization, tracking, educational policy, college access, and educational equity. Prereq: sophomore standing or higher or permission of instructor.

Expanded Description

This course has been designed to provide learners with a sociological perspective on schooling and the American educational system. With the above topics as our guide, learners will gain an understanding of how education, as a social institution, affects and is affected by other social institutions, such as religion, economics, and politics. Lastly, this course will also compare education in the United States to education in other nations and cultures.

Course Learning Outcomes

1. Demonstrate the differences between the major theoretical perspectives sociologists use to understand education.
2. Describe the functions of major educational policies in shaping schooling in the U.S.
3. Describe the process of empirical research in describing the social world.
4. Describe the structures of educational systems both within the U.S. and around the world.
5. Evaluate and compare the effects of family, peers, and work experiences on educational aspirations.
6. Evaluate and contrast the differences in school experiences based on race/ethnicity, social class, and gender.
7. Evaluate what we teach in schools, including knowledge, politics and socialization.

Course Requirements and Grading

1) "Let's Talk" discussion forum participation in Canvas is required. Most of our Modules in Canvas will include a discussion forum where we will discuss the topic(s) of the week. I will start off each discussion with an overall thread for everyone to respond to, but you are welcome and encouraged to start new threads about the topic. Please note that you are required to post your initial response to each forum before you can see others' responses. All discussion comments must be posted by 11:59 P.M. on Sunday of each week. Specific due dates can be found in the Modules. Again, you must post your own response to the original question before you will be able to see and respond to others' posts.

Discussion forum posts are graded according to the following rubric:

A word of caution here: Do NOT use the reports and opinions of radio and TV talk/news hosts to support what you write. It doesn’t matter which end of the political spectrum you look at, most of these folks provide their opinions and put their own spin on the facts. A good rule of thumb is, if the show has a person’s name in it, don’t use it. (And don’t use Internet transcripts of their shows either.) For example, don’t cite “evidence” from Hannity or the Rachel Maddow Show.

2) "Check your knowledge” quizzes will be administered through Canvas each Module throughout the term. The quizzes will be a combination of multiple choice, true/false, essay, and similar types of questions, and they will be open-book. Please bear in mind, though, that the questions may reference information that I provide in my own lecture notes or videocasts, so the book will not provide all the answers. Quiz questions will not include information from the discussion forums. Student collaboration on the quizzes is forbidden. Your answers must be your own, and I use plagiarism detection tools to check answers against your classmates and a database of essays-for-hire. (In short, don't even try to cheat.) All quiz responses must be posted by 11:59 P.M. on Sunday of each week. Specific due dates can be found in the Modules.

3) Two Research Projects Answering Questions of Importance in the Sociology of Education At the end of Modules 7 and 14, you will be required to submit a Research Paper to Canvas OR to present a video in Canvas (or attach or link to an external video file on the Assignment page).

Note: You can decide which type of assignment you'd like to submit over the course and change as you like. In other words, you could submit a paper for one assignment and a video for the second.

• Research papers must be at least 1,500 words long (that's the equivalent of about 7 pages of double-spaced text in a word processing document). Pick an available topic (from the list provided in each assignment) that is of interest to you, and write at least 1,500 words to answer it. Full credit will be given for responses that apply scientific and evidence-based proposals for solving problems. (HINT: Use information from our readings and external scholarly sources to craft your analysis. Papers based on idealism, relative morality, or religious ideology will not receive full credit.) The rubric below shows how these will be graded. Each paper is worth a maximum of 50 points.
• Video presentations can be recorded directly in Canvas, or you can use the software/Webware of your choice (YouTube, iMovie, etc.). Videos should be at least eight (8) minutes long. Pick an available topic (from the list provided in each assignment) that is of interest to you, and create an 8 - 10 minute video to answer it. These should be as polished as any paper you would write, so practice what you want to say before creating your video and edit as necessary. (HINT: Similar to the above use information from our readings and external scholarly sources to craft your video. Proposals based on idealism, relative morality, or religious ideology will not receive full credit.) The rubric below shows how these will be graded. Each Presentation is worth a maximum of 50 points.

Each essay or presentation will be graded according to the following rubric:

Grading

Your final grade is determined on a 100 point scale as follows:

Course & College Policies

1) Policy on Late Work: I will accept late work, however 10% will be deducted from your grade for EACH DAY that your work is turned in late. So, keep in mind, for example, that submitting a response to a discussion forum after the 9th late day is pointless. In such cases, you would lose 10 days X 10% per day = 100%. In other words, upon the 10th day that a discussion forum post, quiz, or essay is late, you will receive a zero.

2)Academic Disonesty will not be tolerated. See the College Policies and Grading sections of the syllabus for more information.

Plagiarism of any kind will result in a failing grade and a report of the specific offense to the dean.

Plagiarism is the act of presenting another person’s ideas as if they were your own, whether spoken or in writing. Providing a quotation from another author is not plagiarism as long as you provide the correct citation (author’s name, publication information, and page number). However, keep quotes to a minimum and keep them short. Do not quote, for example, an entire 7-sentence paragraph; if your reader wants to read an original quote, he or she can look it up. In such a situation, please summarize the information provided by another author. AND, when you summarize, you still must provide the correct citation of where the information came from.

3) Disability Resources and Services: The University of Colorado Denver is committed to providing both physical accessibility and access to information resources and technologies to individuals with disabilities. Students seeking accommodations for a disability must have appropriate documentation. More information can be found at http://www.ucdenver.edu/student-services/resources/disability-resources-services/Pages/disability-resources-services.aspx 

4) Writing Styles and Standards: You have elected to participate in this course online. However, that does NOT mean that this is a typical online environment (like Facebook, Instagram or Twitter). This is an academic course, and academic standards are expected in your writing and course communication. I do NOT want to see any spch-2-txt (speech to text) in any writing here. In other words, U R not alwed to rite as if U were txting ur BFF from ur phone. (You are not allowed to write as if you were texting your best friend forever from your phone.) Write like you would with any academic assignment. That means fully articulated real words, spelled correctly, sentences that start with capital letters and end with correct punctuation.  

If you have problems with your grammar, syntax, organization, or style when writing, please visit the Writing Center: http://www.ucdenver.edu/academics/colleges/CLAS/Centers/writing/Pages/TheWritingCenter.aspx  

Let me be very clear on this: It is your (the student's) responsibility to be familiar with the UCD/CLAS policies and procedures, including the policy on academic honesty. I will tolerate NO PLAGIARISM in this course. And I mean it!

CLAS Policies

Policies and resources specific to the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences can be found on this page. Please visit that page for additional information.

Required Course Readings

There is one required course reader, plus some additional readings that are posted in Canvas. The course reader is a collection of articles that are written by a number of different sociologists (providing a breadth of perspectives):

Ballantine, Jean H., Spade, Joan Z., and Stuber, Jenny M. (2018). Schools and society: A sociological approach to education. Sixth edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

ISBN 978-1506346977

Here are some links to where you can find the book (paperback and digital). Bear in mind that many of these sources allow you to rent the book at a significant discount.

• Auraria Bookstore
• SAGE (digital, buy or rent for Mac, PC, iPad)
• Amazon.com (new and used paperback, rentals and Kindle also)
• Barnes & Nobel (new and used paperback, rentals and Nook also)

Course Schedule

Most modules will follow the same format -- readings, my videocast lecture, a discussion forum, and a quiz. Some modules do not have both a discussion forum and a quiz, so please be aware of that as you go through the schedule. The easiest way to know what you are responsible for each week is to click on the Calendar button in the dark left-hand menu in Canvas.

Each week runs from Monday to Sunday, so each week’s discussion forum posts and quiz responses are due by 11:59 P.M. Eastern Time on Sunday. Please be aware of the policy on late work stated in the syllabus.

Reminder: the final, quiz, discussion forum, and essay/presentation are due by 11:59 P.M. ET on the Wednesday of finals week. The policy on late work does not apply here. There are NO exceptions for any reason whatsoever. Late work will not be accepted!